How Body Image Shapes Sport Performance
This article was published by the Canadian Sports Information Resource Centre (SIRC) on February 19, 2025. Schloder revised the article and credited the original writer.
For athletes, sports involve pushing personal limits of skill, strength, and endurance. However, what happens when the most significant challenge isn’t physical? For many, particularly younger athletes, the most persistent struggle lies in their minds: body image. Dr. Catherine Sabiston, a faculty member of Kinesiology and Physical Education at the University of Toronto and Director of the Mental Health and Physical Activity Research Centre, has spent years studying the complex relationship between body image and athletic performance. Her findings reveal a concerning reality: a negative body image can undermine confidence, hinder movement, and even drive athletes away from the sports they love.
Beyond Eating Disorders: The Hidden Toll of Body Image in Sport
There’s a tendency to dismiss body image as a ‘fluffy’ topic, Sabiston says,
… Our goal is to demonstrate its essential nature. When discussing body image, people often associate it with issues such as eating disorders. While there’s a critical link, it encompasses much more than eating disorders. It affects every aspect of life, influencing how individuals relate to others, their quality of life, mental health, physical health, injury risk, and various areas of performance …
Athletes train in environments where their bodies are constantly evaluated. Body image issues are deeply entrenched in sports culture, whether through a coach’s comments about weight, comparisons among teammates, or the unspoken pressures of mirrors and form-fitting uniforms, such as those worn in Beach Volleyball, Artistic Gymnastics, and Rhythmic Sports. For many athletes, this internal struggle begins at a young age. Girls, in particular, report heightened levels of shame, guilt, and self-consciousness about their appearance. Sabiston noted that young athletes indicated they never considered their looks until the season shifted indoors, where they found themselves training in a gym decorated with images of ‘ideal’ athletic bodies. Even well-meaning aspects of sports can lead to body surveillance. “A coach might display posters of elite athletes to inspire,” she explains. “But for some, those images reinforce unrealistic expectations and self-doubt.”
Rethinking Coaching: Moving Beyond Body Talk
Why is body image rarely discussed in coaching if it is central to the athlete experience? Often, this issue stems from discomfort or a lack of awareness. We frequently hear athletes approach their coaches and express, ‘You know, I’m having a bad day, or I feel heavy today,’ but those conversations often get interrupted,” Sabiston observes. “Instead, we want to help coaches engage in that dialogue. They should actively communicate with the athlete to understand why they feel this way and how they perceive their bodies. The more prepared coaches are to have these discussions, the better, as it ensures that athletes feel heard. It’s essential for athletes to feel acknowledged and to have the assurance that their coach supports them in such a significant aspect of their sport.
Minor language changes can have a significant impact. Shifting focus from weight and appearance to performance and ability. “We need to remove weight-based commentary entirely. It’s not necessary, and it’s often harmful.” Beyond language, the training environment itself plays a role. Coaches should assess everything from the imagery in their facilities to the structure of weigh-ins. Sabiston says the types of questions sport leaders need to consider are asking yourself if you are measuring progress based on weight or body shape and size. Or are you unintentionally fostering a culture of comparison?
The Uniform Problem: When Clothing Becomes a Barrier
One of the more contentious issues surrounding body image and body surveillance in sports is uniforms. For many athletes, particularly young girls, their choice of attire can determine whether they feel comfortable competing.
... Especially in youth sports, uniforms are a significant and contentious issue for athletes and girls, particularly regarding the ability to choose comfortable-fitting uniforms, says Sabiston. If the uniform draws attention to the athlete's body, they aren't performing at their best. Their mental resources, which should be focused on performance, are instead occupied with thoughts about their appearance ...
… The solution? Options. Coaches and administrators must ensure that the manufacturers they collaborate with provide a variety of sizes and styles of uniforms, as these girls need to feel comfortable. Athletes should be able to choose uniforms that fit well and feel good …
… From the work we’ve done with younger kids or pre-adolescent girls, we've seen that their bodies can change three times in a season solely due to puberty. Therefore, make sure you have at least one uniform for each season or two seasons, and provide enough uniforms so that girls can easily grab what they need when they need it …
… Even factors like menstruation need to be considered. If an athlete is worried about visibility while competing, that’s a huge distraction, Sabiston notes. We need to be proactive in providing comfortable, performance-friendly options …
It’s not just a girls’ issue: How do boys experience body image in sport?
While body image struggles are often framed as a female issue, research suggests boys and men experience them too, just differently. There’s been far more research on girls, but that doesn’t mean boys, men, or gender-diverse individuals are immune, says Sabiston.
… There are significant body image challenges across the spectrum of gender. Historically, boys are generally more affected by muscularity-based factors compared to fat-based factors than girls. However, this is not always the case. Many boys worry about body size and fatness in similar ways…
Sabiston and her team found that when boys and girls equally experienced body image challenges, it impacted their performance. Both struggled with self-consciousness, and when they did, their reaction times slowed, their decision-making faltered, and their confidence dropped.
Shifting Focus: Strategies for Athletes to Cope with Body Surveillance
For athletes struggling with body image issues, Sabiston emphasizes the importance of shifting focus from appearance to performance.
... A positive relationship with how the body functions- its skill, strength, and endurance- is crucial,” she states. Focusing on what the body can do rather than how it looks can help athletes feel more in control …
She explains that self-compassion is one of the most effective strategies. Athletes who practice self-compassion, treating themselves with kindness rather than self-criticism, tend to have a healthier body image and perform better. Self-talk techniques may include replacing negative thoughts with positive ones or avoiding environments that heighten body scrutiny, such as places filled with mirrors or restrictive uniforms. Training and performance spaces should also be designed to reduce appearance-related pressures. “For some, mirrors are necessary for technique, but for many, they’re not. Wearing comfortable clothing and training in environments prioritizing function over form… are small but impactful changes.”
Additionally, Sabiston emphasizes the significance of cultivating supportive team cultures.
… Athletes spend a lot of time with one another, and how they discuss bodies is important, she notes. Avoiding body comparisons, being mindful of the language used in locker rooms, and promoting body diversity in sports are all crucial steps …
Changing the Sports Culture: The Path Forward
So, what needs to change? For Sabiston, the answer begins with education. Coaches, trainers, administrators, and everyone involved in sports must recognize the significance of body image and its effects. The goal is to foster environments where athletes feel supported rather than scrutinized. This means:
Eliminating weight-based commentary in coaching and training.
Providing uniform options that allow for comfort and choice.
Designing training spaces that don’t reinforce harmful body ideals.
Encouraging open conversations about body image without stigma.
Recognizing that body image affects all athletes – not just women and girls.
Throughout my extensive career as a head coach in various sports, where negative and dehumanizing attitudes toward females in sports such as Artistic and Sportive Gymnastics and Artistic and Competitive Swimming have prevailed and continue to do so, I have proposed for a long time that changes are needed. I am aware of female athletes who have died by suicide and, in some cases, by starvation, as well of a Calgary swimmer who passed out while trying to visit her grandmother, subsequently blacking out, rolling her car, and tragically dying. Never mind that her coach told her she "still had a fat ass” after she took a year off to reach her so-called ideal weight.
Sports can build confidence and resilience, but only if athletes feel safe in their own skin. To keep young people engaged in sports, we need to ensure they do not struggle with their bodies just to stay in the game.
References:
For more about Dr. Catherine Sabiston’s work and research: https://discover.research.utoronto.ca/15159-catherine-sabiston/grants
Baker, P. (2025). The unspoken battle: How body image shapes sport performance. SIRC. Canadian Sport Daily, 02/19/2025.
Paula Baker, M.Sc., is the managing editor at SIRC. She draws on her 20 years of experience as a journalist and former exercise physiologist to bring sports research, knowledge, and human-interest stories to readers.
Her information for this article was presented in a SIRC blog: Canadian Sport Daily, 02/19/2025.